Do You Still Like Ian?

Beside Xue Yiran stood Celia, who kept saying words of encouragement to her.

"You've got this. Don't be nervous. Just let everything escalate as usual." Celia reaches out and pats Xue Yiran gently on the shoulder.

'Well, I think you're the one getting nervous instead.' Looking at Celia sweat ridden face, Xue Yiran almost rolled her eyes.

The empty seats were soon filled up. All eyes were fixed on the tall platform where vice president Edward was supposed to emerge from. Amidst the loud noise, a figure could be seen walking onto the tall platform. People began to notice that instead of the familiar face of president Edward they knew, the person walking on the stage was someone they hadn't seen before.

The man appeared younger. His rich long black hair falls freely across his shoulder. While walking, he gave people the aura that he wasn't a person to be trifled with.

Everyone began to murmur as soon as they sighted the strange man.

"Who is that man?"

"How come he's on the stage instead of Vice president Edward."

"Is he a new judge that was hired to precede this competition."

"I don't know but he however looks more younger than the judges."

"Am I the only one. I think he kind of looks familiar."

"Could I have seen him appeared on an entertainment news? But his face doesn't seem to ring a bell to me. But I do feel a strange sense of familiarity with him. It's as if I've seen him somewhere before."

Almost all the students from Roland academy felt that strange sense of familiarity when they saw the appearance of the man.

"Oh, I remember! Doesn't he look a bit like the statue of the president that was erected at the academy."

"Oh, you are right. He indeed looks a bit like the president. Could he be the president son or grandson?"

"Hmm-hmm." The sound of throat clearly immediately resonated through the stadium. The man stood on the tall platform, his sharp eyes looking directly into the crowd. Soon he spoke into the mic. "Welcome to the final tournament of the interschool competition. Well, I will begin by introducing myself, since this will be the first time most of you are seeing me. My name is Brent Lewis. I'm the current president of Roland academy."

"What did he just say? The president?"

"Is this a prank or what? Daring to declare himself as the president, this man truly doesn't value his life."

"Wait, look. Vice president Edward is already walking towards the man. Seems like he's about the send the man off the stage."

The students' eyes shifted towards Edward who was approaching the man on the stage. However what Edward had done next took the whole audience by turn.

Edward looked at the middle-aged man and bowed in greetings. "You're back president. Why didn't you inform me of your arrival." Edward was already making preparation to come up to the stage and declare the theme of the competition. Who would have expected that the president would arrived and walked up to the stage instead.

"Yeah, I'm back." President Lewis shifted the mic away from his mouth and turned to look at Vice president Edward. "Leo reached out to me saying that a talent had appeared in this year competition. So, I came here to take a look."

When Vice president Edward heard the president words, he couldn't help but scold Leo in his heart. That fellow Leo is such a whistleblower.

"Yeah, but I--" Before he could continue further, Vice president Edward sentence was cut short by the president.

"Let's discuss this after the event." The president said.

Noticing that it would be rude to converse in front of the whole audience, Vice president Edward nodded. "Would you like to announce the theme of the competition, President."

"No, you do it. I'll take a leave now."

Seeing the middle-aged man leaving, the students began another murmuring.

"It looks like he's leaving already. So, is he the real president or not?"

"Didn't you see Vice president Edward greeting him and calling him president. That should explain his identity."

"Of course, I saw that but tell me, how can an old man turn into a younger man. Even if you say it's possible, there's no way I would believe it."

While others were arguing about the president real age, Ian on the other hand appear calm and composed. Although President Lewis might appear young on the outside, his lifespan still remains the same.

During his stay in the wilds, the president had received a lucky encounter. He had been chased by a vicious beast. In order to escape, Lewis had to jump off the cliff. However, in the midway, he passed out from the air pressure. But by the time he woke up, he found himself wash ashore of a river. But what was surprising is that his injuries were all healed and not only that, he had been reversed back to his previous youthful age.

As for how Ian knew, it was the president who had recounted his occurrence to the emperor. Ian had luckily been in the hall room that day and heard the whole conversation. His father had ordered people to the location for investigation, but they all came back futile.

It was believed that the president must have encountered the holy beast, 'White Unicorn' while he was unconscious. The record of the White Unicorn was dated back to millions of years ago, during the first appearance of monster beasts.

It was said that the White Unicorn were docile beasts, and weren't afraid of human. Due to their mind-blowing healing ability, human began capture them. Because of the high demand for them, the holy beast became extinct. The record of their existence could only be read in the history book.

Now with president Lewis incident, it's clear that the holy beast still exists. However, they had already gone into hiding. President Lewis can only be said to be a lucky person to have encounter them during a perilous moment.

Vice president Edward shifted the mic. "I welcome you all to the final round tournament of the interschool competition. Today, there's a dark horse among the academy who we wouldn't have predicted to have made it into the final round. Perhaps, we will all get to witness a huge change in the history of the interschool competition. For the final round, the location of the match would be situated inside the simulation world. And the rules are--"

Xue Yiran listened attentively to the rules of the competition. The rules were almost the same as the free for all battle. Just that instead of fighting against monsters to accumulate points, she would be fighting against her opponent instead.

Soon the match began. Both Colton and Xue Yiran were given a golden seal before they were submerged into the simulation world.

In everyone's view, the two contestants were standing on top of a high summit that span up to the sky. The area above the summit was a bit constricted for the two of them. Falling off from such height would surely end anyone's life. As a result, the two must watch out, lest they steer off the cliff from such height. Another thing to also watch out for was the high wind blowing about on the cliff.

Colton looked at the person before him. The struggle in his eyes became evident. His mind was still mulling to what had happened yesterday.

Colton expression was displayed vividly to the audience. A frown appeared on Ian face when he saw his troubled expression.

'What's going on with him? Why does he look so troubled?'

It didn't take long for the answer to come to light. Colton clear voice instantly reached everyone ears.

Inside the simulation world, Colton appears to have made up his mind. With conviction in his eyes, he looked at Xue Yiran before opening his mouth to say, "Before we begin this match, I would like to ask you a question."

Xue Yiran recognized Colton from her predecessor memories. Hearing his words, she nodded. "Sure, go ahead."

"Do you still like Ian?"

Xue Yiran was taken aback by the unexpected question. Even those in the audience had a surprise look on their face.

"Woo-hoo, is this a confession time?" One of the female students said with thrilled on her face.

"Why is he suddenly asking her if she likes the crown prince? Of course, everyone likes the crown prince. I meant who wouldn't." Blush crept to a female student cheek as she utters the last sentence.

"You guys might not know the inside story. Here's what happened." One of the students who knows about Xue Yiran rumors began to explain to those around.

"Oh, so that's how is it. But why does he have to ask this on the final day of the competition. Isn't he afraid of embarrassing the crown prince."

Their eyes glance towards direction Ian was seating.

Ian instantly lost his calm demeanor the moment Colton question rang out. He didn't know why Colton was asking such question. However, he felt a strange sensation in his heart. As if he truly wants to hear her answer.

All eyes were on Xue Yiran as they all await to hear her reply.